Accused Killers of Chess Player on Trial

From website of Union for Councils of Jews in the Former Soviet Union Trial Begins of Moscow Neo-Nazis Accused of Killing Chess Player (September 12, 2008) The trial of a neo-Nazi youth gang accused of killing the internationally known chess player Sergey Nikolaev has begun in Moscow, according to a September 12, 2008 article in the national daily "Kommersant." The 13 defendants, aged 16-18, face between five and 22 years in prison if convicted. Prosecutors accuse the youths of two murders, ten attempted murders, and hate crimes. The trial is closed to the public, due to the under-aged status of most of the defendants. Moscow's chief prosecutor Yuri Syomin, referred to the gang's leader as "mentally retarded" but it is unclear if that is true, in which case it may have an impact on potentially sentencing, or if he meant it as an insult.